Peace is more than the absence of war. In its positive and ambitious meaning peace entails democratic governance, civic oversight over the security sector and human development. In the 1990s, there was a tremendous optimism about Southern Africa's ability to recover from years of civil wars and apartheid destabilization through democratization, security sector reforms and human development. In more recent years, however, this optimism gave way to profound worries about democratic recession, the inability of states to deliver public goods, the resurgence of militarism and growing socioeconomic inequalities. Gilbert Khadiagala`s contribution to the FES Peace and Security Series analysis the factors behind the described reversal in democratic development and asks, how Southern Africa could recapture the momentum that unleashed democratic awakening in the 1990s.